Adventure of Young Dave. 1

Young Dave. reaches the root-tunnel mouth, sword in hand, when armored boots hammer the path behind him. He turns in time to see hunters push through the trees, fanning out with spears and bows and cutting off the creek behind.

Kaelo goes rigid beside the stone marker, pale and speechless. A broad-shouldered hunter in a rain-dark cloak steps forward, helmet tucked under one arm, his gaze fixed on the map-bearer.

The others hold their ground, arrows half-drawn, but none rush in. The creek gurgles under the root-shade, loud in the pause.

The Hunter Captain shifts his grip and nods once toward Young Dave., waiting to see whether the sword rises or the burden changes hands.

Young Dave lunges first, big sword flashing for the hunters at the creek line, but the front rank slips aside and the strike bites only air. Before he can recover, the Hunter Captain drives in with a hard, controlled cut that catches Dave and knocks him back from the tunnel mouth, breath jolting out of him.

Kaelo flinches toward the stone marker, half-hidden behind the moss-scraped carving, while the hunters tighten their line across the path. The root-tunnel yawns open at Dave’s shoulder, but the creek behind him is still barred.

Young Dave drives in again, but the hunter line gives ground as one body, spears and bows shifting just enough to spoil the angle. His sword scrapes past a shield rim, and the opening vanishes.

The Hunter Captain’s earlier cut has him breathing hard, but he stays calm, feet set, blade up. Kaelo presses back against the stone marker, eyes flicking to the exposed carving beneath the moss as the hunters close the gap by inches.

Young Dave twists the sword low and flings a sheet of creek mud straight into the Hunter Captain’s face. The impact blinds him in a single ugly blink, and the line falters.

The nearest hunters jerk back, heads turning, spears wavering as they lose the clean line across the creek.

Kaelo goes very still beside the stone marker, the moss-scraped carving exposed between his fingers and the dark root-tunnel yawning behind him.

Mud runs down the captain’s cheek as he wipes at his eyes, and the hunters crowd together to keep their footing at the bank.

For one breath, the path is open, but the captain is already shouting through the grime for a fresh formation.

Young Dave hacks at the Hunter Captain’s arm, but the blow skids wide on mud and panic. The captain staggers back half a step, one sleeve torn, then drives in hard with a brutal countercut that knocks the breath out of Dave and folds him to the bank.

The hunters surge at the shout, spears thrusting toward the root-tunnel as Kaelo freezes beside the stone marker. The tunnel mouth snaps from promise to trap, and the creek closes around Dave as darkness takes him.